Chapter 1

Good news: I was pregnant.

Bad news: I was not on talking terms with the father.

How should I tell Shaun Lewis the news without embarrassing myself too much?

I put a picture of the positive pregnancy test online and asked the netizens. There were plenty of friendly people on the forum, and soon I had a thousand comments in my inbox.

[Send him the photo of the test and tell him the baby starved to death in your war of attrition]

[Tell him straight to his face: I am not alone! I have someone on my side!]

[Come back after five years with five genius babies]

[Tell him, “Come here and get on your knees. I have something to tell you.”]

…

Yep, they were really helpful. I sighed to myself as I watched the comments flood in. I knew I was right to believe in the inherent kindness of the Internet.

A few of the comments stood out among the barrage.

[Run away with the baby! I’ve been reading novels for an entire decade, so I have plenty of experience.]

[Go to a hospital and schedule an abortion, then put his number in the form.]

[When you’re out for lunch with him, pretend to gag and dash to the washroom.]

All of them were experienced readers, so I had faith in their advice.

After all the time I spent staring at my phone, though, Shaun still had not replied to my messages. The thought of his cold attitude pissed me off, so I blocked his number.

‘Shaun, you big idiot,’ I thought to myself. ‘Since you’re bad with words, you can keep doing your own thing. Don’t bother talking to me for now.’

After all, I had a surprise lying in wait for him.

The first step in my plan to run away from home was to choose a car I liked from the garage.

I immediately chose Shaun’s favorite black Bugatti. Yep, that was the one!

To suit the novel scenarios, I waited until the day Shaun was busiest with work before running away in his racecar.

As the wind whipped past my hair, I sighed in satisfaction. This was the life! Shaun could just go and love himself.

I drove all the way to my best friend Vicky Fern’s house. Lying on her couch, I told her my entire plan in detail.

Her reaction was to lean on my shoulder, laughing until her back was bent.

“Wait! What the hell are you thinking, Nessa Smith?” She was utterly confused. “What did Shaun do to piss you off this time?”

Just thinking about it ticked me off. As much as I hated to admit it, it was true that we fought for silly reasons before.

Like the time I got mad at Shaun because he forgot to buy me the Hermes bag I wanted when he went abroad, only for me to eventually realize I had forgotten to tell him. Or the time he ate cake beside me while I was on a diet…

However!

This time, it was his fault for sure! I told Vicky as much, my voice full of conviction.

“Then tell me, what did he do?” She listened curiously, eating chips as though waiting for the newest episode of her favorite sitcom.

She had always been like this whenever I told her about my fights with Shaun, ever since we started dating in college and even now, two years into our marriage. She was certain we would not actually fight, because she assumed we were bonded for life.

“Stop eating those chips!” I yanked her hand away from the bag. “Listen up, Captain Fern! The battle this time is serious, and I need my strategist!”

“Yes, Commander Smith.”

The reason behind my fight with Shaun this time was a real tearjerker, guaranteed to move anyone who heard the story.

That day, after I arranged my precious handbags, I decided to visit Shaun in his study out of the kindness of my heart.

I walked through our bedroom and into the study, standing behind Shaun.

I thought he would be busy with work as usual, but I found him on the phone and holding a picture in his other hand.

To surprise him, I poked my head over his shoulder. “Shaun Lewis!”

When he was busy, he would usually glance at me and gesture at me to find a seat next to him. If he was less busy, he would make me sit on his lap and read through those boring documents together.